Closure for discharge apertures of containers



July 13', 1926. S

M. P. LINK CLOSURE FOR DISCHARGE APERTURES 0F CONTAINERS INVENTOR ATTORNEY FiledIMa 29. 1925 WITNESSES CZMA 7K Patented July 13, 1926.

UNITED STATES MAXIMILZAN PAUL LINK, 0F ROCIEESTER, NEW YORK.

CLOSURE FOR DISCHARGE APERTURES OF CtJNTAINERS.

Application filed May 29, 1925.

This invention relates to closures for discharge apertures out containers for salt or other granular or powdered material.

The object is to provide a simple device formed of a single piece of thin metal, celluloid, card board, or other material having sulficient stiffness, and bent in proper form to be readily applied to the discharge opening of said container to provide for the ready discharge of the contents and yet prevent any leakage of the material, when closed, said device having means for engaging the edges of the discharge opening to prevent the same from being pushed into the container or from being disconnected therefrom.

Another object is to provide a closure snugly fitting the said discharge opening so that no parts will pr ject from the outer face 01 the container wall having the aperture, in order not to interfere with stacking of a plurality 01': such containers, and which closure, by merely pushing on one end thereof to move the same longitudinally within its seat, will automatically cause the closure to be swung outwardly from the opening to form a spout, open only at one end, to direct the flow of the contents of the container,

A full and complete understanding of the in ention may be obtained from a consideration of the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing storming a part of this specification, it being understood that while the drawing shows a practical form of the inven ion, the latter is not to be confined to strict conformity with the showing thereof, butmay be changed. or modified, so long as such changes or modifications mark no material departure from the salient features of the invention, as specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing, in which similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures 1:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through the upper portion of a salt or other container in common use and showing the improved closure in side elevation applied thereto and in closed position.

Figure 2 is a similar View of the same subject matter, but showing the container tilted to dispense the contents, the closure being shown in longitudinal section and in open position. 7

Figure 3 is a fragmentary top plan view showing the closure in position.

Serial No. 33,813.

v Figure 4 is a detail perspective view of the closure.

Figure 5 is a plan View of the blank comprising the closure prior to being bent into shape.

Referring to Figure 5 ot the drawing, the combined closure and spoutis formed 01' a single piece of thin, stiff material, such as suitable metal, celluloid, caru board or other material having suilicient strength and stillness, and the blank may be produced by a single stamping operation to cut the same from sheets, thus being easily and quickly manufactured and without appreciable loss of material.

The blank is bent longitudinally along the spaced lines au., as indicated in said figure, to provide a centrally dis osed rectangular body member or cover plate 1, the same being of elongated form, the side portions of the blank constituting side walls 2 extending parallel to each other and perpendicular to the said cover plate 1, to which the same are thus integrally joined.

At what may be called the front eno of the closure, the side walls 2 have their front end dges 3 undercut or inclined to cause the front end of the cover plate to overhang, and at the lower ends of said inclined edges, there are provided opposite, forwardly extending stop lugs l, the lower edges oi which are in line with the lower, tree edges of the side walls.

The side walls 2 at their rear ends have their lower edges inclined upwardly, from substantially midway of their lengths, as indicated at 5, and at the point of juncture with the body member or cover plate 1, there are provided opposite side slits 6 at the rear end of the closure which, together with the said inclined edges 5, form rearwardly extending, longitudinally disposed extensions 7, the rear, tree ends of which are rounded and extend beyond the end of the body member or cover plate 1.

The inner, closed ends of the slits 6 are located at substantially one-third the length oi the body member, and the rear end of the latter thus constitutes a resilient tongue 8. which is slightly wider than the w -.,th of the cover plate, as clearly shown in the drawing, owing to the fact that the said slits are located with their inner edges slightly outside of the lines of bending a-a.

All of these parts are formed prior to the bending of the blank, as will be understood,

and with the walls 2 bent exactly at angles, or perpendicular to the body me. her or cover plate 1,t-he operation of forming the combined closure and spout is complete, and the same is ready for application to the container.

Any form of container, whether formed of metal or pasteboard, may be equipped with the improved device, that shown in the drawing being of the usual form employed for containing salt and other granular material, and the ne may be round, square, or of other shape. One of the walls of the container, or areierably the head 9 thereof, is provided near the periphery of the container with a rectangular opening 10, having a width exactly the same as the width of the cover plate 1 and a length substantially equal to the length thereof, that is to say, the distance between the inner, closed ends of the slots 6 and the front end of the said cover plate 1. a

The side walls of the closure are adapted to trictionally engage with the side edges oi the rectangular opening 10 at all times, and prevent accidental movement of the closure therein. The front end of the closure is located in that end of the opening close to the said adjacent periphery, and the edge defining the rear end the opening fits against the inner closed ends of the slots 6, as clearly shown in Figure l of the drawing, when the device is in closed position to prevent escape of the contents and to prevent entrance of moisture, etc. this time, the front edge of the cover plate is substantially in a line with the front end of the opening, and the resiliency of the tongue 8 in coaction with the extensions 7 serve to clamp the end wall or head oi the container with sutlicient force as to event the closure from being accident -l 9 i down into the container when the l closure is closed. By simply pushing with the iii 1' or nail against the free end of the tong e 6, the device may be moved longitud' lly along the opening 10, and the inclined lront edges 3 of the side walls 2, by engaging with the front end edge of the opening, will cause the closure to swing outwardly, as shown in Figure 2, and to automatically constitute a spout of substantially triangular form and closed on all sides except one to permit the passage of the contents of the container, when the latter is tilted shown in said figure. The outward movement of the closure is arrested by the engagement of the aforesaid stop lugs t with the end oi the opening, and at this time the free end of the resilient tongue 8 is still bearing upon the outer face of the head 9 adjacent to the rear end oi the opening 10 and is slightly flexed. The width of the slits 6 will vary according to the kind and thickness of the material comprising the container in which the closure may be located. If the material is tin, said slits may be reduced in width the bending process tends to widen the space sufficiently to receive the material, whereas it the material is pasteboard the said slits 6 will be made slightly wider, as shown in the drawing.

From the foregoing it will be seen that a simple, cheaply manufactured and easily installed combination closure and spout for salt or other containers has been provided, which requires only a slight longitudinal, sliding movement of the same when in closed position, to cause the same to rock outwardly and automatically assume the form of a spout for dispensing large or small quantities from the container, the said device being easily operated by the indez; finger while supporting the container between the thumb and the other fingers of the same hand.

What is claimed is 1 1.111 combination with a container h ving a discharge opening therein, a slid. closure mounted in said opening and hating means at one end engaging said opening to allow the closure upon movement to slide longitudinally oi itself in a direction substantially parallel with the wall 01 the container in which the closure is mounted, said means holding the closure from being accidentally torced down into the container when in open or closed position, and also having means at the other end of the closure to cause the closure. when moved longitudinally of itself to swing outwardly at that end and away from the container to constitute a spout of substantially triangular form closed on all sides except one.

2. In combination with a container having a discharge opening therein, a slidable closure fitting in said opening and having a tongue at one end extending beyond the end of the opening and bearing on the outer face of the container, side walls carried by the closure and having extensions bearing on the inner face of the container and coacting with the tongue to hold the closure to the container the end edges of said side walls opposite to the tongue being sharply inclined and engaging the adjacent end edge of the opening to cause an outwardly swinging, opening movement of that end of the closure when the exposed, free end of the tongue is pushed in a longitudinal direction.

3. In combination with a container for granular material having a rectangular opening therein, a combined closure and spout snugly fitting said open'mg and lying substantially flush with the outer face of the container when closed, said closure having an extended tongue at one end and lying flat against the outer face beyond said opening, said. closure also having longitudinal side walls formed integrally therewith and extending into the container to frictionally engage the longitudinal side edges of the opening at all times, said sides having extensions within the container beneath and spaced from the tongue, said walls also having sharply inclined edges at the ends opposite to the tongue and adapted to engage the adjacent end edge of the opening to cause the combined closure and spout to swing outwardly at that end when the same is pushed longitudinally by means of the said tongue.

1-. In combination with a container for dry, granular material having an elongated, rectangular opening formed in one head thereof, a combined closure and spout formed of thin, stiff material and adapted to frictionally engage the longitudinal edges of said opening, said closure having longitudinal side walls perpendicular thereto and extending into the container, the front ends of the walls being undercut to provide sharply inclined edges to engage that end of the opening and cause outward swinging movement of that end of the closure to form spout when the closure is pushed or slid in a longitudinal direction from the other end, said inclined edges terminating in forwardly extending stop-lugs for engaging the inner face of the container head at the end of the opening to limit the outward and longitudinal movement of the closure, said closure having means at its rear end for permitting longitudinal movement and preventing outward or inward movement at said end.

5. In combination with a container for dry, granular material having an elongated, rectangular opening formed in one head thereof, a combined closure and spout formed of thin, stiff material and adapted to frictionally engage the longitudinal edges of said opening, said closure having longitudinal side walls perpendicular thereto and extending into the container and provided with slots in their rear ends where joined to the body of the closure to engage the head of the container and permit sliding movement and prevent dislodgment of the closure, the front edges of the walls being sharply undercut to provide inclines to engage that end of the opening and cause outward swinging movement of that end of the closure to form a spout when the closure is pushed or slid in a longitudinal direction from the other end, said inclined edges having stop lugs to limit said outward movement.

6. A combined closure and spout for containers having an opening, said closure comprising a cover plate co-extensive with and fitting in the opening, said plate having an extended tongue at one end to bear on the outer face of the container wall, perpendicular side walls joined to the longitudinal side edges of the cover plate and extending into the container, opposite longitudinally disposed extensions formed on the ends of the side walls in spaced relation to said tongue to bear against the inner face of the container wall, said extensions terminating beyond the end of the tongue, and adapted, together with the tongue, to prevent dislodgment of the combined closure and spout when closed or open and yet permit longitudinal and a slight rocking movement of the same, inclined edges formed on the other ends of the side walls to engage the end of the opening and cause that end of the closure to move forwardly and outwardly, when pushed in that direction, and stop lugs to limit such movement.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixed my signature.

MAXIMILIAN PAUL LINK. 

